Dr. Kelsi Singer’s work focuses on the geology and geophysics of icy bodies, and she also studies impact cratering across the solar system from Mercury to Pluto and Arrokoth.  The overarching theme of her work is to tie empirical observations to analytical models.  Dr. Singer has a particular interest in: astrobiology, secondary and tertiary craters, ocean worlds past and present (Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Triton, Pluto, and Charon), impact scaling laws, long-runout landslides, lunar topography, centaur and KBO missions, and spacecraft flyby conops.

Dr. Singer was born in Colorado and received bachelor’s degrees in Astronomy and Anthropology from the University of Colorado in 2006 and completed a PhD in Planetary Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis in 2013.  Dr. Singer conducted a one-year postdoctoral position with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) team before joining SwRI and New Horizons in 2014.  Dr. Singer served in many roles on New Horizons (Co-I, Deputy Project Scientist, and Project Scientist) before becoming the Deputy PI of New Horizons in 2023.  Dr. Singer also likes to give back to the planetary science community by serving on many professional society committees, and for 6 years as a JGR-Planets associate editor.

Dr. Singer was awarded the GSA Greeley Award for distinguished service to planetary science in 2018, and the AAS Division for Planetary Sciences Urey Prize for early-career scientific achievement in 2019.